Ascension of an Apprentice - Volume I
by President Angel
Summary: In a world ruled by an empire, a world without the influence of the Jedi-Sith war, Remnant has come to know peace and prosperity as it once did centuries ago. But under rule of the Imperial Kingdom, no one has freedom of speech, individuality has been banned. The Jedi and Sith are nothing but myths. But the Jedi legacy lives on, in the daughter of Summer Rose.
1. Chapter 1

The Great War. A moment that had defined Humanity of what they truly were and how they would never come to peace with each other. It was an ultimate clash of power that resulted in the end of the era of independence and freedom of speech. The banning of self-expression and art; the beginning of a new era. But what happened after isn't our focus point here, its what happened before that does. Because what happened before is how the Imperial Kingdom came to be, how the Sith were able to rule Remnant and how they and the Jedi became nothing but myths to the people today.

For centuries has existed an order of individuals who called themselves Jedi. These people whom called themselves warriors devoted their lives to protecting four sacred objects, fused with mysterious power they called "The Force". These four objects were known as Relics; Knowledge, Choice, Creation and Destruction. With knowledge that if all four were brought together, a single individual would have immense power invested into them, that they would be able channel the powers of both the Master and the Apprentice to great lengths; they would become an immortal god, as both were before. Of course, since the Jedi were Jedi, whom believed that all life was sacred and valuable, they hid the four Relics away from the world, in fear that they'd be exploited by a power hungry individual who would sought after them.

Eventually the fear the Jedi had about this individual would become true, as an ancient Jedi had succumb to the seduction of the Lamp of Knowledge and secretly became the First Sith. She was the Master of the Mistral Temple, as such with her title and place, she had direct access to it. Since they did not predict it would be one of their own, the Jedi Order were unaware of the influence the Lamp had on her, as she avoided showing any indication that she was corrupted by its knowledge. As days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, the Dark Side that resided within the Lamp took its toll on her, as she began to appear pallor. This would be noticed by Jedi of the Mistral Temple who reported it, and eventually Salem was summoned before the Jedi High Council, to be questioned of her condition.

While everyone on the Council were unaware it was the Lamp, she argued it was a plague, one that physically altered those who affected by it and that she appeared to be the only one who caught it. But Ozma, the Grand Master, did not buy into her claims, as he knew she was seduced by the Lamp's Dark Side influence; a trait of which was noticed by him due to her yellow eyes, as they were originally light blue. However, the Jedi decided to speak amongst themselves, and she returned to the Temple that she oversaw.

For the next few days, Ozma consulted with the High Council on how to resolve the matter, they had came to the conclusion that if it was true about what he told them, there was only one way to resolve it. And that was to forcibly remove Salem from her post at the Mistral Temple, something Ozma promised he'd never do, but he had no choice. The woman he fell in love with years prior was no longer the same, she was not Salem. Despite that, he voiced protest but was overruled.

On their way to the temple, a Jedi Master confronted her, supported by three other Masters and a large group of Jedi Militia soldiers whom all agreed to accompany him in removing Salem from the Temple and separate her from the Lamp, hoping to sever her connection to the influence it had on her. Once she discovered why they were there, she protested against them and they had fought in lightsaber combat throughout the temple. Unknown to them, she held great power due to the Lamp's influence and openly challenged the Jedi in combat. In the ensuing battle, they were defeated and killed. The majority of the Temple's inhabitants were dead. It became clear to Ozma, Salem had to be destroyed.

Because of her actions in slaughtering most of the Temple, many Jedi called her "The First Sith", a name of which was found in ancient notes left by the Apprentice.

In time, Ozma had given orders to the Jedi and their Militia to endlessly search for Salem, as they discovered she took the Lamp of Forbidden Knowledge with her. In her care she looked to it for teachings and power she could learn from ancient lessons that the Apprentice himself left behind, which she was granted. Her knowledge of the Dark Side grew immense over the course of several years, and in those years she was able to convince others of her teachings and away from the Jedi ideology that they wouldn't survive, if they continued to care for others. Thus, the Sith Empire was born.

The Sith Empire expanded without resistance, claiming the lives of many in their conquest and grew an army greater than any before them; through conscription and kidnapping. They were able to conquer all of Anima and began to settle onto Solitas, the coldest part of the world. Despite their unrivaled expansion, the Grimm remained a very large threat to them and the people living under their rule, due to the negativity generated by the Sith. Though, they remained unchallenged and fought against the Jedi and their Militia for centuries without end.

However, the Sith relied too much on negative emotions which always attracted Grimm to every battle they took part in. Another was their craving for power, and due to that, Salem was eventually betrayed by her apprentice, though he was unsuccessful in killing her. Unknown to them, their downfall had just begun, as every other Sith did the same for generations; the apprentices killed their masters, taking their place when it was their time to rule. In Salem's self exile, she was disgusted of what became of the Sith Empire and in a decision to bring them back to what they were supposed to be, she founded the Knights of Ren, an order of Dark Side users whom she had complete control over.

The Jedi, being keepers of peace, were not soldiers and the Jedi Militia was mainly just a voluntary group. In order to continue to fight the Sith and sustain their war with them, the Jedi assisted the creation and rise of the kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo, swearing their allegiance to them, but did not disclose the existence of the Relics. Now allied with the Kingdoms they helped create, they became their protectors, they advised their kings on matters that threatened both the people and their borders. The war between the Sith Empire and the Jedi involved both Vale and Vacuo, a conflict that continued to rage on for centuries since their first battle.

With the Sith being power hungry, their infighting eventually had costed them their Empire as political and military officers took advantage of this and casted them out, crippling and splintering the military government into remnants. Though, since the Sith were military-oriented, the political leaders eventually gave rise to the Kingdoms of Mantle and Mistral; though the former was infiltrated by Darth Bane who had gone under the guise of Dessel, a political leader within Mantle's commerce departments. Under this guise, Bane used what political influence he had on Mantle's king and through the use of the Dark Side became his personal adviser and influenced his actions during the conflict's remaining years and soured his belief on the Sith Empire and the Sith themselves.

As the Great War came to its close, all four of the Kingdoms came together on the island of Vytal, where all four kings had negotiated and declared peace between their forces and celebrated the unification of Remnant. However, Bane had different plans on Remnant's unified future and staged an assassination of all three kings, except himself. His idea was to paint the Jedi and Sith as enemies who were no different from each other, to make everyone believe that the only purpose they served was to create even more chaos and destruction in the world. And it worked. Those he worked with on this assassination were his own loyal followers, who disguised themselves as Bane's security and as Jedi and Sith attackers. A few of his followers were required to sacrifice themselves, in order to make the assassination look real and authentic.

In the aftermath, Bane, his security and what remained of the security for the other three kings survived. In that moment, Bane knew everything was now proceeding as he foresaw. He informed all four Kingdoms that he and the security force were the sole survivors of the assassination attempt, that the Jedi and Sith were behind what had happened. This turned the people against the Jedi, and the Sith. He would later go on to declare that all four Kingdoms would join together in a unified state as the Imperial Kingdom, to create stability and security for the people under his rule. The next day, the Jedi Temples in Vale and Vacuo were vandalized and destroyed, their people hunted to extinction the same went with the Sith, despite that Bane himself was one as well. His apprentice Plagueis, under the public guise of Hego Damask II, became an enforcer in the Imperial Military as Supreme Commander.

In the later years, the Imperial Kingdom would be separated into four smaller Imperial Kingdoms in each of the four previous Kingdoms, and focused on solidifying their holdings and territories throughout Remnant and began its imperialization of numerous corporations, companies and departments, and had the each of them led by an Imperial Foreman. Though, the Schnee Dust Company whose family was involved with the Sith avoided this, as Nicolas Schnee gained Bane's personal friendship following the Great War by presenting designs for the Imperial Military, which included the Imperial-class airship, the TIE Fighter, the All Terrain Armoured Transport, and the Stormtrooper armour. These became the face of the Imperial Military as time went on, though only nine of the Imperial-class airships were built, due to their immense size and cost.

Five years after the Great War, the Imperial Kingdom of Vale noted an increase of Grimm activity near the borders of its territory, though they could not be contained or controlled, the Valean Minister proposed the creation and organization of the Huntsman Academies, which would serve the purpose of training licensed warriors known as Huntsmen and Huntresses to deal with the threat of Grimm, as to avoid allocating valuable Imperial resources to deal with this threat, which would cost them. With this, the Valean Minister worked with the Ministers from the other three Kingdoms in search of four individuals to each lead an Academy as its headmaster, and one of these men was Ozpin, a surviving Jedi Master who governed the remnants of the Jedi Order as Master of the Order.

In the years following the Great War, the scattered remnants of the Jedi and Sith continued to exist. Sympathizers passed on what people called myths and stories of these two groups. In these stories, the Jedi and Sith were considered to be numerous things, one of which was being "bad guys" that only wanted to bring chaos and destruction, while others regarded them as heroes in the eyes of their sympathizers. In reality, they were just doing what they thought were right; in their own way. And once the news of these Huntsmen Academies reached them, almost every one of them had found purpose in being Huntsmen and, for the Jedi, protecting the people. Though, the Sith found their enjoyment by killing Grimm with excitement but did not forgot about the Jedi, whom they all wished to fight once again.

Ozpin, now the headmaster of Beacon Academy, began to work in secret with Yoda as well as the headmasters of the other three Academies to train a new generation of Jedi, whom would be collectively named after the Academy they were trained at. This allowed the Jedi Order to rebuild its number and grow in size once again, though they would not officially make themselves known as the Imperial Kingdom was still a large threat to them, and would most likely hunt down them. Unknown to them, Bane did the same as well with Atlas Academy by recruiting graduates into the Imperial Special Operations as undercover Sith assassins and agents.

All of this went well for the Jedi, until they had encountered Summer Rose. A woman born with Silver-Eyes, a group of Grey Jedi who were believed to have been killed off by the Sith fifty years before the Great War. Yoda explained her importance to the Jedi, as he also believed she would be the Grey Jedi to rejoin the Order and bring balance. Although puzzled and confused at first, she eventually understood what she was told and accepted her place within the Jedi Order, training at Beacon as a Jedi. After her graduation, she stuck with her teammates in being Huntsmen who operated in Vale and took on bounties from unprotected villages and towns to neutralize Grimm threats, though two of her teammates would have a child together. However, her team would break up and ended up living with Taiyang Xiao Long, helping to raise his only daughter, until she would eventually give birth to her own, whom she named Ruby Rose.

Although Summer kept in contact with the Jedi High Council, specifically Ozpin and Yoda, she kept Ruby's birth away from them, as to avoid her being involved with them. Only Taiyang, Qrow and her Beacon teacher Luna Tachibana knew of Ruby's existence; Luna having been one of her close friends. Her reason was because she didn't want Ruby to go through the life the Jedi lived; constantly chased by Sith and could be killed at any time, which did happen to Summer, as she was hunted by Huntsmen Sith who wanted nothing more but to kill her because of her Silver Eyes, which they knew she held Grey Jedi blood from them.

Despite that, Ruby's older half-sister Yang would always tell her stories about the Jedi and Sith, as these stories were considered myths and legends. This influence on Ruby would eventually lead her to crossing paths with Ozpin who would take note of her eyes, and realize she was the daughter of Summer upon learning it.

"Silver eyes? Are you certain of this, Ozpin?" A man asked.

"Yes." He replied, sitting in his chair.

"Have you told master Yoda?"

Oz had his finger tips together. "Yes. He and members of the Council are on their way. I spoke to him earlier before calling you up." He replied.

"The Council? Is it really that important enough for them to come along?" He asked again, surprised.

"The Council believed Summer Rose was the Chosen One. But her death said otherwise. Which did surprise me..." He paused.

Although he could not believe it, Oz was surprised that Summer even had a daughter. Let alone be able to love anyone, as was evident in her years at Beacon where she was shown to be quite focused on her training than her emotions. If Ruby was really her daughter, then she held Gray Jedi blood.

"Well, what do you think the Council will do? I mean I have a pretty good idea of what they're going to do." He was curious.

Ozpin turned his chair around, facing outside of the window of his office. He knew the Council would assign a Jedi Master to her once he tells them he accepted her into Beacon Academy two years earlier than she was supposed to be, though it did not bother him as much.

"Can I ask you something, Luna?" He asked.

"Of course. What is it?"

"Do you like being in the library?" The question puzzled Luna.

"To be honest, it does get a little boring, but I can't really complain. Why?" He replied.

"Just curious." He wondered why Oz had sudden interest in asking him that, but it didn't really concern him as much.

"Anyways, its late, Ozpin. I'm going to get some sleep. I still got some work left to do in the library, so I'll be pretty busy tomorrow." He said, approaching the elevator in his office.

"Goodnight, Luna."

"Oh, and say hello to my brother and sister for me when they get here. I just know they'll ask about me." He said as he got into the elevator.

Ozpin chuckled. "Of course, I will." He said.

With that, Oz was left to himself. He thought about what he wanted to talk about with the Council. He believed the person on his mind to train Ruby was ready and a perfect fit for the assignment, though he was unsure of how the Council would react to his suggestion, but he was prepared to convince them.

* * *

This is a reworked/rewritten of my _Ascension of an Apprentice_ project. With this version, I'm staying true to my plans of crafting an interesting take on both universes, but will also try to stay true to both universes' canon. The original story currently on my profile will be deleted in 24 hours.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Luna returned to the library, where he was in the restricted section, organizing a shelf full of history books that others would find out of place, especially with their topics. He hummed to himself, not wanting any of the dead air to linger around. Although he thought of his place as Lore Keeper boring, he did enjoy all of the time he had to himself and not worry about the hassle of teaching students or moving about around the school.

"Ah. That should do it." He said to himself, placing the last book on the top of the shelf and climbed down the ladder.

He made his way back to his office near the entrance of the library, where, on most days, he would be found by others. His office was nothing special compared to the library itself. He had a desk, computer for his work and a handful of other Librarian essentials. He felt quite at home where he was.

"Noon already." He looked at his watch. "I bet the students have already arrived and are probably in the amphitheater with Ozpin and Glynda." He said to himself.

He decided to lay back on his chair and relax, perhaps take a nap for a bit. Though, he thought to himself that he shouldn't fall asleep, as he still had his duties to attend to. After a little while, someone had rung the bell on his desk, causing him to wake up and almost fall off his chair.

He looked up and saw a student. "Forgive me, dear. I got too relaxed." He straightens out his shirt. "What might I do for you, my dear?" He asked.

The girl was nervous. "My master told me to tell you...Midi-chlorian?" She replied.

He recognized the code word. "How may I guide you, Padawan?" He asked. He noticed she became a little eased and relieved.

She nodded. "My master said you'd be able to give me a book to study Form II."

He smiled. "Of course I could. Follow me." He said, as he got up from his chair and led the girl to the restriction section of the library, which only he had access to.

After getting up and not realizing exactly how long he was napping, he noticed that there were students in the library, studying and chatting, though not loudly so as to not disturb anyone else. He didn't see any First Year students, as they were probably hanging around somewhere else, since they didn't officially start school just yet.

The girl he was leading was the first Beacon Jedi to come to him, and suspected that there would be many more throughout the year. The only real reason Jedi visited the library was to seek knowledge from Luna, Beacon's only Lore Keeper and probably the only Jedi in Vale who knew a lot about The Force, and the history of the Jedi and Sith.

She noticed where they were approaching. "The restricted section?" She asked.

"Well, yes. If the books about our secret society were out there where anyone could find them, the Jedi would be exposed and known to everyone, and our society wouldn't be so secret." He explained.

She nodded. "That's a fair point."

They walked towards the back end of the section where he pulled one of the ladders attached to the shelf, climbing to reach a book titled "History of Vale: Unconventional Tactics, Volume MMXIX", climbing down and giving it to the girl.

"This isn't a book about Form II. It's a volume of the History of Vale?" She questioned, confused about why he gave her the wrong book.

He smiled once again. "Your eyes deceive you, Padawan." He said, opening the book for her and revealed that it was simply just a disguised cover. "I have ways of protecting these books. Replacing their covers and keeping them within the restricted section are just two ways." He replied to her, explaining his methods once again.

She was impressed. "My master said you were resourceful. I guess that's why he says you're the perfect Lore Keeper for Beacon."

They walked back to the main hall and back to his desk at the front. Luna was personally proud of where he was, despite how boring it got at times. His enjoyment was helping Padawans find what they need to become Jedi. Though, he yearned to train a Padawan himself, as to directly pass on the knowledge he had to them.

He sat back down on his chair and looked at the girl. "Try and take good care of that book. The disguised cover usually only works around here, so don't let anyone near it." He warned.

"Of course, master. I will do my best to keep it safe and hidden." She replied, as she walked off.

He looked back at his desk, turning on his computer screen and began to check up on things. Pretty much Librarian things, he thought.

For the next few hours in his free time when not assisting students or Padawans, Luna had been reading a few Jedi history books from the restricted section, some about the Sith Empire and the Jedi Order. The stories and history within these books fascinated him to the point that he sometimes wished he were around during those times and fought alongside the Jedi. However, as nightfall had begun to set in, he notified students still in the library that he was going to lock up and to return to their dorms.

Walking out of the library, turning around and locking the door, another professor was walking by and noticed Luna in the hall.

"Evening, Luna." She said, gaining his attention as he turned around.

"Professor Peach. Did everything go well for the first day?" He asked, walking by her side down the hall.

She was holding a saucer with a teacup, sipping before answering his question. "Yes, it went smooth, Luna. It feels good to teach again." She replied.

He was feeling a little tired and yawned. "Well, at least you're keeping yourself busy most of the time. I just sit around all day, typing and checking on things. Oh, and helping students." He replied, describing his first day in the library.

She chuckled. "Oh, Luna. I'm sure you could keep yourself busy as much as I do every day. Just take a walk around the library, find something to read whenever you're not typing or checking something." She suggested.

"Well, I've been reading into some history books lately. About our...society." Although there was no one around, he still wanted to be careful.

"Hm? Which part of it exactly?" She asked.

"The time before Kingdoms became governments. It just fascinates me a lot. Where we didn't have to live in secrecy and live a different life." He answered. "I pictured myself during that time period. I was a Master, fighting with a Padawan of my own by my side." He continued.

She was amused at his obsession for a Padawan. "There is no doubt that maybe you will have a Padawan someday, Luna. I'm not sure if you've heard, but I hear there's a Jedi in Beacon that's receiving a Padawan this year." She said to him, causing him to forget what he was talking about.

"Really? Do you know who it is?" He asked, eagerly.

She nodded. "No. I'd tell you if I knew, but I don't." She replied.

He sighed. "Well, I guess I shouldn't worry too much about it. I have no doubt in my mind that it wouldn't be me." He said.

"Oh, don't be so harsh on yourself, Luna. I know it may seem like it might be awhile before you get a Padawan, but don't let that discourage you." They both stopped and looked at each other. "You're the most knowledgeable man I know in Beacon. If anything, I do hope it is you. You deserve it more than anyone here." She cheered him up.

He smiled. "Thanks, Peach. That means a lot coming from you. But then again, I can only hope." He said, as they both continued walking forward.

After an hour of chatting and making their way towards the dormitories, they came to a stairwell which led to the second floor of the professors' dormitory. Luna had his quarters on the first while Peach was on the second.

"Well, this is me. It was nice seeing you, Luna. Good night." She said, opening the stairwell's door.

"I say the same to you, Peach." He said as he watched her ascend the stairs.

He continued on towards his quarters just a few doors down from where the stairwell was located. He opened his door and closed it as he walked in. He went over to the table and placed down his keys. He let out a sigh of relief.

"I best get myself some sleep for tomorrow." He said to himself, going over to his dresser, undressing himself and pulling out his pyjamas.

He turned off the lamp on the table and went to climb into the warm sheets of his bed, he felt quite snuggled and slowly fell to sleep.

The next morning, the First Year students had gathered on a cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. Among them is Ruby Rose, a student accepted early into Beacon by Ozpin. But only for a single reason. As they all stood in a single line on launch pads, Ozpin and Glynda explained to them about how Beacon worked, the assignment of teams and the dangers of the forest below, and that they had one objective; to retrieve relics at a temple on the north side. After they were informed, they were launched into the forest one by one.

As Ruby flew through the air towards the ground, she crashed through a black bird that was flying by slowly.

"Birdie, no!" She yelled.

She descended closer to the ground as she brought up Crescent Rose, firing off a few rounds to slow her down descent and then quickly switching to its scythe form and caught the branch of a tree and fell downward at a slower pace. She lands perfectly in a crouch but then immediately sprints off to locate her sister.

"Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang!" She ran through the bushes.

However, she then comes across Weiss as she is turning to face her. Both of their eyes meet and there is a pause.

"No." Weiss says, turning around and walking away from Ruby.

"Wait!" She follows slightly, but stops and kicks the ground dejectedly. "We're supposed to be teammates..."

A few moments after walking away from the worst teammate she thought of, she made her way through bushes, occasionally giving an "ow" or grunt, pushing plants out of the way. Coming to a clearing, she brushes herself off and sighs in relief upon hearing a voice.

"Come on, come on! Stupid..." Jaune said, attempting to free herself from a spear that had been thrown by Pyrrha sometime earlier.

She looked up and saw him hanging a few feet up from the ground with the spear embedded in his hood. He sighs and gives up on trying to pull it out, looking down and notices Weiss, giving an embarrassed wave.

"My team's still open...if you get me down...?" He asked.

She glares for a few moment before turning around and walking back towards Ruby, as she thought she'd rather have her as a teammate than him. He groans as he watched her walk away.

As Ruby was sitting down on the ground, she notices her coming back and gets up, going over to her. However, as she passes, she grabs the young girl by her hood and drags her the way she's walking.

"By no means does this make us friends." She says, grudgingly.

"What's the hurry?" Ruby asked, noticing the pace that Weiss was walking in.

"I will not let my mission be delayed because of your slowness. If I get a bad grade from it, I swear I'll " She was interrupted as Ruby suddenly appears right in front of her. "What the...!"

"See, I'm not slow. You don't have to worry about me." She said, hoping to reassure her new teammate.

"How did you...? When...?" She was slightly amazed.

"Just because I don't socialize much with people doesn't mean I can't deal with monsters!" She said, placing her arm around Weiss' shoulders. "You are about to see a whole different side of Ruby Rose today, Princess! And once you do, you'll be like, "Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool...", and I wanna be her friend!" She finished.

"I seriously doubt that." She replied, skeptical.

As Ruby disappears in a shower of rose petals that land on Weiss, she brushes them off and hears her giggling away and rustling in the plants and bushes around her.

"You may be fast! But you still excel at wasting time!" She shouted.

She heard nothing from Ruby. She approached a darker part of the area, looking for her new partner as she saw a patch of bushes moving and leaned closer to draw out Ruby, however a pair of eyes are seen glaring at her.

"Ruby?" She called out one last time.

Suddenly, there was even more red eyes around her as she began to hear a loud howl from a Beowolf in the distance. She turned around to discover that there was an Alpha Beowolf emerging from a bush and jumped at her.

"Ruby!" She yelled, as the Alpha roars.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait. I've only realized now that stories take time, so I'm not going to rush this.


End file.
